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Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

Eventually practice ends and everyone makes their way to the locker room. Hegre calls a team meeting.

“Does anyone care how many shots Paul takes?” he asks the team.

“No,” they answer.

“Does anyone have a problem if Paul scores 30 every game this year?”

“No.”

Around 10 months later, George is named the Golden League Player of the Year. He earns the honor after leading Knight to a 24-9 record, and to the California Division I State playoffs. He finishes the season averaging 25 points per game.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

Then hopefully he has the mindset that he's better than all the players around him and he needs to carry this team on his shoulders as much as he can. The next few months will tell us if we have Tracy McGrady or Trevor Ariza.

"I've got an idea--an idea so smart that my head would explode if I even began to know what I'm talking about." - Peter Griffin

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Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

That's a pretty good article. It changes my perspective on Paul a bit. It does a good job of highlighting the juxtaposition between Paul's game and the feedback/pressure he receives from teammates, media, etc. Paul is a big part of the glue that keeps our offense/defense together. Take him out of the starting lineup and our starters don't blow out the Heat's starters

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

Does this article make anyone else think that we won't see Paul emerge as the main scoring option while Danny is still around?

Not the impression I got.

I took from it that Paul is not going to rush things because he understands how a team should operate. Keep everyone involved, play defense, listen to the coach, and play within yourself and the system.

I think we would all agree that Danny is also a good teammate, willing to do as the coach says. Is that a fair assumption?

Also, we know that Vogel is focused on improving this team through whatever means he can, as evidenced by Hill keeping the starting job after DC healed up last year, and this year's camp being so focused on specific areas where he saw a need to improve over last year.

All of those combined, to me, indicate that Vogel will know when Paul is ready, and he will tell Paul, he will tell the team, he will likely tell the media. The rest of the team is going to be ok with it because they all understand how a team operates, and because everyone likes Paul.

I think Paul is just waiting on Vogel to call a team meeting and ask, "Is everyone OK if Paul drops 30 every night?"

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

Then hopefully he has the mindset that he's better than all the players around him and he needs to carry this team on his shoulders as much as he can. The next few months will tell us if we have Tracy McGrady or Trevor Ariza.

People gotta stop this. Tracy McGrady was a top 5 player in his prime if not better that could play a PG role. He put up 27/7.5/4.5 when he was PG's age. Paul George is never going to be Tracy McGrady, the expectations have gotten far too high.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

People gotta stop this. Tracy McGrady was a top 5 player in his prime if not better that could play a PG role. He put up 27/7.5/4.5 when he was PG's age. Paul George is never going to be Tracy McGrady, the expectations have gotten far too high.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

And much as I love him, Frank needs to shut up. Being confident, having swagger as the kids say, is one thing, I'm all for positivity. Mouthing off is another. I'm all for him talking the guys up in practices and in game huddles. But I hope he never pulls another "Miami are the biggest floppers in the league" at a press conference again. Same deal I have with Roy mouthing off about JOB in the past. It's just unprofessional.

If you want to "shoot for the moon" thinking Paul George will ever be the player McGrady was feel free. But I don't want to hear it when he never puts up over 20 a night in his career. Win games, beat teams, then say what you want. Until then you're (not YOU, the figurative sense) the message board poster that says they could sink a clutch FT in front of 20k because they shot 85% in high school.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

And much as I love him, Frank needs to shut up. Being confident, having swagger as the kids say, is one thing, I'm all for positivity. Mouthing off is another. I'm all for him talking the guys up in practices and in game huddles. But I hope he never pulls another "Miami are the biggest floppers in the league" at a press conference again. Same deal I have with Roy mouthing off about JOB in the past. It's just unprofessional.

If you want to "shoot for the moon" thinking Paul George will ever be the player McGrady was feel free. But I don't want to hear it when he never puts up over 20 a night in his career. Win games, beat teams, then say what you want. Until then you're (not YOU, the figurative sense) the message board poster that says they could sink a clutch FT in front of 20k because they shot 85% in high school.

Calm down friend, i'm quite certain that DGP was just using two hyperbolic players on opposite ends of the spectrum. There is nothing wrong with shooting for the moon though. Noone is going to be super disappointed if PG doesn't reach T-mac offensively, sheesh. Vogel wasn't the one that started those comparisons there were scouts that pegged him as the future best player in his draft class back before it ever happened.

Also I doubt Roy would have mouthed off about JOB if JOB wasn't notorious for attacking players in the media and being an *** to play under in general.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

Calm down friend, i'm quite certain that DGP was just using two hyperbolic players on opposite ends of the spectrum. There is nothing wrong with shooting for the moon though. Noone is going to be super disappointed if PG doesn't reach T-mac offensively, sheesh. Vogel wasn't the one that started those comparisons there were scouts that pegged him as the future best player in his draft class back before it ever happened.

Also I doubt Roy would have mouthed off about JOB if JOB wasn't notorious for attacking players in the media and being an *** to play under in general.

The Roy/JOB stuff I disagree on with a number of people. I'm of the opinion that once the guy's canned you shut up, some aren't. Is what it is, differing viewpoints I guess.

And you bet your *** people'll be disappointed. When Paul George is repeatedly compared to Tracy McGrady in multiple media outlets it trickles into the fanbase, as we can see. At no point in their careers have they at all been similar, the only reference that makes sense to TMac is PG being a skinny lanky dude that can jump high. When a guy is over and over called the next Tracy McGrady (read: 25 a night at 22 years old), however ignorant that is, that means unless PG reaches McGrady heights he's a "disappointment" even though it was a moronic comparison in the first place.

I have absolutely no problem with Paul George. I have a gigantic problem with this notion that he's someday going to be one of the NBA's five best players. Could he be? Sure. And I could win the Powerball, the odds are pretty similar. When people keep hyping him up so much his actual peak is going to disappoint people even though he'll still be a really good player. But not Tracy McGrady.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

No, why? Do you think Danny wouldn't be OK with Paul asserting himself more on offense? I've never personally gotten that vibe from Danny.

Nothing particularly against Danny, but a star player stepping aside and becoming more of a role player while still near his peak seems relatively uncommon. On the bright side, we've seen Reggie do it, so maybe Danny can as well.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

The Roy/JOB stuff I disagree on with a number of people. I'm of the opinion that once the guy's canned you shut up, some aren't. Is what it is, differing viewpoints I guess.

JOB was a douchebag ...But he was OUR douchebag. He'll always have a spot (maybe a microscopic niche for some) somewhere in all of our hearts but man is he fun to rag on now that he's gone. And if one of the things the team and PD can always rally around is a good old JOB bashing session then sure, why the hell not.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

People gotta stop this. Tracy McGrady was a top 5 player in his prime if not better that could play a PG role. He put up 27/7.5/4.5 when he was PG's age. Paul George is never going to be Tracy McGrady, the expectations have gotten far too high.

I hope he exceeds McGrady's accomplishments. The guy never did much in the post season, did he?

This team first idea may have some merit.

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"I like our group of people," Ainge told USA Today. "I'm trying to teach them about basketball, and they're trying to teach me about analytics."

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

The Roy/JOB stuff I disagree on with a number of people. I'm of the opinion that once the guy's canned you shut up, some aren't. Is what it is, differing viewpoints I guess.

I can appreciate your take.

However, I will lean toward exceptional actions for exceptional situations. The JOB horrible phenomenon was truly unusual, exceptional, and a disaster. Roy just made a couple of comments and that was it. I was glad to hear them. Somebody needed to say something about it. It was therapeutic. Roy is very human, very sharp, very discerning. I'm not surprised he took a risk, did something that would ordinarily be frowned upon, and spoke some reality to the fan base.

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"I like our group of people," Ainge told USA Today. "I'm trying to teach them about basketball, and they're trying to teach me about analytics."

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

Does this article make anyone else think that we won't see Paul emerge as the main scoring option while Danny is still around?

If shot attempts are any indication, then no, Danny hasn't been willing to step aside. I'll be keeping an eye on that this season. Both West and Paul should get a boost in shot attempts and usage rates at the expense of Danny IMO.

Re: Paul George: Slow Grind

Then hopefully he has the mindset that he's better than all the players around him and he needs to carry this team on his shoulders as much as he can. The next few months will tell us if we have Tracy McGrady or Trevor Ariza.

Now there is a low reward comparison that makes some sense. Very similar build, strengths and weaknesses, etc. Even though Ariza probably wasn't as good as Prince, his game is a lot more similar to PG than Prince's ever was.

With that said, I see PG falling somewhere in the middle of McGrady and Ariza-level of player. So we're looking at an Iguodala/Granger/Gay/Johnson/Deng type of player who is in the 2nd/3rd tier of wing players. Nothing wrong with that.